"I have concluded from the melancholy nature of my subsequent development that the artifacts hung up on a child's wall can have a permanent effect on his life."

So begins the essay on the role the Art played in my formation, an evolution spanning Southern California, France, the groovy Sixties, Africa. "Still Life" will reveal the malefic influence of "the original Joe Vogel," plumb the mysteries of “Ten Nights in a Barrel,” revel in the salvation of Dutch realism -- and picture this, so much more!

If you didn't grow up in a family of visual artists or art collectors, the prints and paintings that adorned the walls of your house were probably reproductions of the Beautiful (landscapes! Impressionist paintings! photographs from that amazing trip to South America!). What effect might this art which you took in consciously or not every day have upon whatever taste you developed as you became your own person? Welcome to the Philipson Museum of Eclectic and Accidental Art!

Host Info
Hosted by Dr. Robert Philipson
Robert is a former professor of African-American studies with a passion for jazz and art. A published author and Harlem Renaissance historian, he has produced multiple films about the intersectionality of race, music, and sexuality.

Music

“What I’ll Do” - Chet Baker

“Vincent” - Daniel Champagne

“Lute Music - Netherlands: Courante” - Konrad Ragossnig

“Magnetic Rag” - Scott Joplin

"Pictures at an Exhibition" - Khatia Buniatishvili-Mussorgsky

“Pictures at an Exhibition” The Piano Guys

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Sam and Daniel are in Israel, circa 1969. They are on a kibbutz, learning Hebrew in the morning and working for their room and board in the afternoon. Sam follows Daniel in his effort to deepen his Jewish identity. They go to Mount Tabor, site of a battle between the Israelites and the Canaanites, spend a weekend at a Chassidic yeshiva where Daniel is ardently proselytized by a recent convert. Finally they make pilgrimage to the Western Wall, the holiest shrine in Judaism, where Sam confronts his Jewish destiny. And still the revelations are not over because the first-person narrator -- me -- discovers the real motivation behind the writing.

It may not be what you think. It certainly wasn't what I thought at the time. "Even the outpouring of my story had been an act of cowardice. I had written what green authors so often write about, a territory so worn and worked over that it could serve only as an apprenticeship."

Host Info
Hosted by Dr. Robert Philipson
Robert is a former professor of African-American studies with a passion for jazz and art. A published author and Harlem Renaissance historian, he has produced multiple films about the intersectionality of race, music, and sexuality.

Music

“Theme of Exodus” Ernest Gold

“He AIn’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” - The Hollies

“Jerusalem of Gold” - Ofra Haza

“I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” - U2

"Where is Love" - Acapella Arrangement from Oliver!

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Host Dr. Robert Philipson guides listeners through a lyrical meditation on memory, identity, and the lasting imprint of Paris. Framed by a moment of reflection on the banks of the Oubangui River in the Central African Republic, Philipson recalls the two years of his childhood spent in Paris—an experience that profoundly shaped both him and his mother, despite their outward return to American life. The episode captures the sometimes bittersweet reality of living with beauty, displacement, and the “Baudelairean longing for ailleurs” (elsewhere). As Paris fades into the past, it emerges again—through memory, art, and the riverbank reverie—as a defining and indelible presence.

Host Info:
Dr. Robert Philipson
Former professor of African-American studies and Harlem Renaissance scholar. Filmmaker and founder of Shoga Films, with a focus on the intersection of race, sexuality, and culture.
Website: shogafilms.org

Music

"J'ai Deux Amours" - Josephine Baker

"Easter" - Francis Bebey

"À la claire fontaine" - Baby Petons

"À La Tour Eiffel" - Melody Gardot & Philippe Powell

"Les rues de Paris" - Nicolas Godin

"Les Champs-Elysées" - Joe Dassin

"Sous Le Ciel De Paris" - Karrin Allyson

"Camille" - George Delerue

"Flower Duet from Lakmé" - Leo Delibes

"J'ai Deux Amours" - Dario Muller

"Les Champs-Elysée" - Igor Baranovskiy

"Sous le Ciel de Paris" - Rustem Mustafin

"Sous le Ciel de Paris" - Yves Montand

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Dr. Robert Philipson reflects on the layered history and personal meaning of his childhood home in Southern California, weaving together Indigenous displacement, colonial conquest, and postwar suburban life. As he moves room by room through The Old House, Philipson unpacks memories of joy, loneliness, family ritual, and quiet grief, transforming the house into a central character in a story about belonging, loss, and the passage of time. A meditation on memory and change, this episode speaks to anyone who has tried to hold on to the past while facing the inevitability of letting go.

Host Info
Hosted by Dr. Robert Philipson
Robert is a former professor of African-American studies with a passion for jazz and art. A published author and Harlem Renaissance historian, he has produced multiple films about the intersectionality of race, music, and sexuality.
shogafilms.org/podcasts

Music:

"A House is Not A Home" - Luther Vandross

"Home in Pasadena" - Tony Martin

"The Folks Who Live on the Hill" - Peggy Lee

"This Ole House" - Bette Midler

"El Rey" - Vicente Fernández

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Dr. Robert Philipson reflects on the emotional limbo of post-college life in 1970s Pasadena, where returning home sparks a spiral of depression, existential doubt, and a search for meaning. Amid the decay of suburban sprawl and family disconnection, a psychedelic night with friends offers a vision of communal living rooted in shared purpose and simplicity. Philipson explores internal disillusionment with the external collapse of American ideals, crafting a powerful meditation on adulthood, authenticity, and the yearning to build a life beyond inherited expectations.

Host Info
Hosted by Dr. Robert Philipson
Robert is a former professor of African-American studies with a passion for jazz and art. A published author and Harlem Renaissance historian, he has produced multiple films about the intersectionality of race, music, and sexuality.

Music

“Yesterday Once More” - The Carpenter

“Time (Darkside)” - Pink Floyd & Tom Stoppard

“I’m Fixing a Hole” - The London Starlight Orchestra

“Sunshine Superman” - Donovan

“Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95, B.178: III Scherzo” - London Symphony Orchestra

“Aubrey” - Bread

“Big Yellow Taxi” - Joni Mitchell

Connect With Us:
Website: shogafilms.org
Instagram: @shogafilms
Facebook: facebook.com/shogafilms
Twitter: twitter.com/shogafilms
Sign up for our newsletter at shogafilms.org

Website: www.shogafilms.com;
Instagram: shogafilms;
Facebook: facebook.com/shogafilms;
Twitter: twitter.com/shogafilms